pro-bassoonist

This year's Cesar Awards will be presented on February 26 so being only a month away below is a quick look at the current nominations. Many of these films already started coming out (of course with the unprecedented 12 nominations for A Very Long Engagement) so I thought we could keep this thread here and mark off the films as they start coming out on DVD.

This year the Cesar Awards will be handed out by the beautiful Isabelle Adjani.



The official site of the Cesars is here:

http://www.lescesarducinema.com/cesar/home.html

Needless to say the list of actors/producers/directors, etc, is staggering:Maggie Cheung, G.Depardieu, Tony Gatlif, Ken Loach, Pedro Almodovar, Emir Kusturica, Ingmar Bergman, Walter Salles, Sofia Coppola, etc.





Full list here:

http://www.lescesarducinema.com/cesa...tions2005.html


Regards,
Pro-B

Grimfarrow

What an incredibly pathetic list. They nommed Les Choristes and A Very Long Engagement for best pic over Exiles, Notre Musique, A Tout de Suite and Comme Une Image?!??!

Gypo66

Incredible. And I thought the Oscars were lame...

pro-bassoonist

We can always count on your insightful comments can't we? As I am yet to see Exiles I can not address it...but I thought that Les Choristes was an amazing film and surely deserves a nomination. As to A Very Long Engagement...there is a solid US involvement there so I wont comment.

Notre Musique....is surely not better than Les Choristes in my humble opinion...despite the fact that it is Godard.

Of course I am yet to see ALL of the films that were nominated this year so I can not slap the trendy "how lame" tag........yet.

Regards,
Pro-B

Summerwine

Well, I am going to see A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT next week, but I saw "COMME UNE IMAGE" in November: it was definitely not "up there" or worth any awards. It was just another Parisian bourgeoisie portrait - Grimfarrow: I can't see why you that one to get a César... .

The Rest I have yet to see - did anybody here see the new Chabrol yet?

S

pro-bassoonist

here's the first addition

...is coming out in the UK on March 21.

Regards,
Pro-B

Grimfarrow

Hello - LES CHORISTES is just another DEAD POET'S SOCIETY...with cute orphans (awwww) and nice music (awwww). But damn, if the film isn't the most sappy, soapy, ultra-melodramatic dreck made this side of FINDING NEVERLAND.

Grimfarrow

Because at least it's well acted and well scripted...something I can't say for A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT, which was a mess.

Heimlich1

Well, Les Choristes is out on DVD in France but I don't think english subtitles are included on the disc. However there is an alternative: the HK DVD which, according to yesasia, does include english subtitles as well as a DTS track.

http://us.yesasia.com/assocred.asp?C...ection-videos/

Also according to Yesasia, a DVD of Olivier Assayas' film, Clean, is coming from Edko (HK) on March 19th.

http://us.yesasia.com/assocred.asp?C...videos/code-w/

pro-bassoonist

Heimlich1 WELCOME to the forum . Nice to have you here.

Yes, you are correct Les Choristes is out in France but without English subs (in fact I will keep the thread updated only with titles that offer subs). So, your info regarding the R3 version is great.

Great news on CLEAN as well. Hopefully a French disc will come out (with lots of extras) and English subs. I shall definitely look into the R3 version however

Again, welcome to the forum.

Regards,
Pro-B

mdm67

I don't understand why Cesar should represent the best french cinema has to offer: they are national awards just like the Oscars. They can be useful to sell films, they provide knick-knacks to directors/actors and all the rest, no more than this.
The only meaningful award for me is to be selected into competition at Berlin, Cannes and Venice: some times bad films are selected at those festivals too, but overall you can look at their selections as the best the world cinema has to offer every year.
As for the Cesar...are the following...
- 36 Quai des Orfèvres
- Les Choristes
- L'Esquive
- Rois et Reine
- Un long dimanche de fiançailles
the 5 best films prodeuced in France in 2004?
I haven't seen L'esquive yet though I have not heard so much enthusiasm about it, and I agree with Grimfarrow circa Les Choristes - though an award like Cesar can't ignore such box-office hit - but Desplechin's Rois et Reine is one of the best films I have seen last year, regardless nationality. Jeunet's film has it faults but they are the faults of a great, original and very personal idea of cinema, it doesn't deserve to be easily dismissed. "qui a tué Bambi" by Gilles Marchand could have been there, or at least Laurent Lucas as best actor. Then Kahn's "Feux rouges", Leconte's "confidences trop intimes", Masson's "pourquoi pas le Brèsil", at least Jaoui's "comme une image" is up for best screenplay.
Old new wavers Chabrol (la demoiselle d'honneur) and Godard "notre musique" should have deserved some attention, and Tavernier's Holy Lola too.
I am sure I am forgetting some good film but this is not the point: National Awards (call them Oscars, Cesars, Davide di Donatello and so on) are not made to select good movies.

Grimfarrow

Thanks mdm67 - my sentiments exactly. I am also baffled at the lack of nominations for LES SOEURS FACHEES - at least Isabelle Huppert must have deserved a Best Actress nom for it! Or Gerard Depardieu in LE TEMPS QUI CHANGEANT. And no Sylvie Testud! She was wonderful in both DEMAIN ON DEMENAGE and VICTOIRE. That really irks me. But the NOTRE MUSIQUE and FEUX ROUGES snubs are the most inexcusable.

Totally agree on ROIS ET REINE. At least they bothered to nominated that one, thank god. And I guess that, no matter how well-made A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT is, it just didn't...engage me.

Heimlich1

And the winners are:

Best French Film:

- L'esquive (Abdellatif Kechiche)

Best Director:

- Abdellatif Kechiche (L'esquive)

Best Actor:

- Mathieu Amalric (Rois et Reine)

Best Actress:

- Yolande Moreau (Quand la mer monte)


Best Supporting actor:

- Clovis Cornillac (Mensonges et trahisons et plus si affinités...)

Best Supporting actress:

- Marion Cotillard (Un long dimanche de fiançailles)

Most promising actor

- Gaspard Ulliel (Un long dimanche de fiançailles)

Most promising actress

- Sara Forestier (L'esquive)

Best first feature film

- Quand la mer monte (Gilles Porte et Yolande Moreau)


Best original screenplay (original or adapted)

- Abdellatif Kechiche & Ghalya Lacroix (L'esquive)

Best original score

- Bruno Coulais (Les choristes)

Best cinematography

- Bruno Delbonnel (A.F.C.) (Un long dimanche de fiançailles)

Best European movie

- Just a kiss (Ken Loach) and La vie est un miracle (Emir Kusturica )

Best Foreign film

- Lost in translation (Sofia Coppola)

pro-bassoonist

I saw them posted last night at ecranlarge....

Rois et Reine....was also voted the best French film by the French critics.

Pro-B

Dazza

I watched this on TV on Saturday and was quite disappointed with some of the results (although looking at some above posts, many were displeased with the nominations).
Thought "L'esquive" won far too much; on the other hand, pleased to see Marion Cotillard win best supporting actress and "Deux freres" get best editing...

Dazza.

eric-v

Couple(or more) of things to say about the results:

"L'esquive" deserve the best film award, but I'm really not sure that the movie can be watch by foreigner people....It's really french, and if you don't know regular french accent, it's impossible to notice the superb work actresses and actors have done.

Best actress for Yolande Moreau is great! If you have chance that a theater near you plays it, just go.

Best actor for Mathieu Amalric: we already talk about this great movie and he deserve this award,no doubt about it.

Jeunet's film and the chorist are both formated commercial movies....watchable movies, nothing more to say.

Giles

great news, can't wait to see the Region 1 March 15th release of this.

pro-bassoonist

I am yet to see 90% of the films so I can not comment on the results. I hope these films get a US/UK distro deals as I L'esqive is already on the DVD market without subs.

Very, very much looking forward to Rois & Reine.


Pro-B